39 open source language version > español

The tailors and embroiderers of Philip IV of Spain: approaches through painting

by Álvaro Romero González PhD candidate in Social history. University of -La Mancha

1 BROWN, Jonathan; The royal court was moved definitively to in 1606 during the reign of ELLIOT, John. H., Un palacio Philip III, logically leading to a population boom in the city, which had roughly para el rey. El Buen y 1 la corte de Felipe IV¸ Taurus, 150,000 inhabitants in 1617, two times more than it did twenty years earlier . Madrid, 2016. This massive migration into the new capital, fuelled by the royal settlement, 2 ZOFÍO LLORENTE, drew various artisans, too, clearly showing the growth in industrial activity due Juan Carlos, “Reproducción to the demand from the court, with production focused on consumer goods social y artesanos. Sastres, curtidores y artesanos de for the general public, although in particular for the large number of people la madera madrileños en el in the court. Tailors became one of the most numerous groups, due to the siglo xvii”, Hispania. Revista great demand for luxury items2 that the Count-Duke of Olivares tried, mainly, Española de Historia, número 237, Madrid, enero–abril, to repress with the pragmatic sanction of 1623. He completely changed the 2011, pp. 87–120. aesthetics of Spanish dress with the famous ruff, the characteristic accessory 3 GIORGI, Arianna, España worn by the Hapsburg sovereigns3. viste a la francesa: la historia Philip IV’s new style aimed to set itself apart from any luxury in clothing, de un traje de moda de la segunda mitad del siglo xvii, seeking a new identity, reinventing and leaving behind the excesses of the de Murcia, previous reign. The overly ostentatious style that characterised the period Murcia, 2016. immediately prior, along with the image of a monarch concerned with more 4 Archivo General del earthly pleasures like hunting, was the reason why Philip III was remembered Palacio Real de Madrid, Sección Administrativa, more with pity than glory. Nevertheless, on the inventory Cristóbal Tenorio, legajo 911. Philip IV’s head of wardrobe, made when leaving the position in 1653, there 5 CRUZ VALDOVINOS, are a number of luxurious items that have little to do with the austerity he José Manuel, Velázquez: vida was attempting to impose during his reign: “Un vestido de terciopelo negro y obra de un pintor cortesano, Caja Inmaculada, Zaragoza, lisso hondeado en el telar de unas hondas de rasso que tiene calçon y ropilla y 2011. ferreruelo de herbax forrado en el terciopelo lisso prensadas las hondas porque no hubo de lo mismo del vestido”4 (A plain black velvet garment woven on the loom of satin weave with trousers and mantle and ferreruolo cape lined in velvet with pressed weave because there wasn’t more of the same fabric as the garment.) This garment is similar to the one Velázquez reflected magnificently in his royal portrait of Philip IV (fig. 1) from 1623 and corrected by royal order in 1628 to the final result now at the Prado Museum. It was a sort of protocol clothing for public life in the Spanish court5, which was also used as an ideological weapon to represent the legitimacy of the monarch and his Austrian heritage, as proof

18 THE TAILORS AND EMBROIDERERS OF PHILIP IV OF SPAIN: APPROACHES THROUGH PAINTING 39 open source language version > español

Fig.L 1. VE ÁZQUEZ, D., Felipe IV, 1628. Oil on canvas. © Museo Nacional del Prado.

19 THE TAILORS AND EMBROIDERERS OF PHILIP IV OF SPAIN: APPROACHES THROUGH PAINTING Fig. 2. ROCHA Burguen, F., Geometría y traça perteneciente al oficio de sastre […], 1618. Excerpt. © Biblioteca Digital Hispánica.

6 COLOMER, José Luis, of his financial power and, even, as a religious garment. The manifestation of “El negro y la imagen real”, power and wealth this style of dress implied is tied to the difficulty in obtaining Vestir a la española en las europeas (siglos xvi black dye before the arrival of blackwood, which was cheaper than cochineal, y xvii), vol. I, de in the Hispanic Monarchy in the 16th century. Blackwood chips were boiled Estudios Europa Hispánica and fermented to get a clearer tone6. The use of this clothing is corroborated (CEEH), Madrid, 2014. by Baltasar Castiglione to understand proper use of image and dress: “tiene 7 CASTIGLIONE, B., El Cortesano, Universidad más gracia y autoridad el vestido negro que el de otro color […] porque de esta Autónoma de México, México manera traen consigo una cierta belleza y gallardía […] que mostrasen el sosiego D.F., 1997. y la gravedad de la nación española”7 (It is better and more authoritative to wear 8 Archivo General del Palacio Real de Madrid, black than any other colour […] because it has a certain beauty and bravery Expediente Personal, Cª 911, […] that demonstrate the calmness and seriousness of the Spanish nation). expediente 22. The purpose of wearing black is clearly propagandistic, with Philip V seeking to 9 Archivo General del look like his grandfather and, thus, restore the glory of the previous century. Palacio Real de Madrid, Expediente Personal, One of the tailors with a longer career, who served the king, is Juan Cª 703/14. Rodríguez Varela. The only information for him is his position: “tailor to king Philip IV”8. All of the other tailors we come across are generally foreigners brought in by the queen. The patterns used for this royal garment were by Rocha Burguen from Geometría y traça pertenecientes al oficio de sastre (fig. 2) published in 1618. More interesting is the case that came about when the embroiderers were replaced in 1623. Before that year, when Philip IV had only worn the crown of two worlds on his regal head for just two years, his embroiderer was Juan de Burgos Montoya. He first became the embroider to the cavalry during the reign of Philip III: “on 13 April 1615, he was received as the Cavalry Embroiderer of His Majesty.”9 He went on to serve the ‘Planet

20 THE TAILORS AND EMBROIDERERS OF PHILIP IV OF SPAIN: APPROACHES THROUGH PAINTING 39 open source language version > español

Fig.L 3. VE ÁZQUEZ, D., Felipe IV en Fraga. 1644. Oil on canvas. © Frick Gallery of New York. See detail

10 Archivo General del King’ from May 1621 until the last references to him in mid-1623. Sebastiana de Palacio Real de Madrid, Palacio, first working for the cavalry and later becoming the king’s embroiderer, Sección Administrativa, legajo 5214. took the same path, with a significant reference: mas“ selle hacen buenos a la dicha doña Sebastiana de Palacio ya fue hijos herederos del dicho Juan de Montoya”10 (the seal promotes Sebastiana de Palacio, heir of Juan de Montoya). Sebastiana de Palacio had a long career, from 1623 to the mid-1640s, during which time it is logical to assume that she had a relationship with Juan de Burgos, who died and left her to take over his position. Because, if we look at the portrait (fig. 1) in which the master from Seville is reflected in his black clothing in Philip’s room, it must have been one of the two embroiderers who created this clothing, in collaboration with Juan Rodríguez. Jumping forward in time, we’ll look at the portrait of Philip IV in Fraga (fig. 3). The monarch is shown with totally different clothing from what he

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11 CRUZ VALDOVINOS, had worn in the first half of his reign, with a French flair that must have been José Manuel, Velázquez: vida implemented in the region as a political nod during the Aragon campaigns11. y obra de un pintor cortesano, Caja Inmaculada, Zaragoza, This portrait, structured by Velázquez, shows a change in the monarch’s style, 2011. with the ruff relegated to the background in the look of the time, turning to 12 HERRERO GARCÍA, the wide collars worn in the Flanders region12. Catalina Romero was in charge Miguel, Estudios sobre of decorating and making these pieces: “en 14 de abril que es el día que S. M. indumentaria española en la época de los Austrias, Centro partió a la jornada [de Aragón] mandó se le diesen quatrocientos reales a Donia de Estudios Europa Hispánica Catalina Romero que hace y adereça las balonas de S. M.”13 (on 14 April, the day (CEEH), Madrid, 2014. His Majesty left for the campaign [of Aragon] he called for Catalina Romero to 13 Archivo General del Palacio Real de Madrid, be given four-hundred reals to make and decorate the collars for His Majesty). 14 Sección Administrativa, The real cost to make one of these, however, was only eight reals , which shows legajo 911. how highly though of this collar-maker was among the court, entrusted to 14 BIEDMA TORRECILLAS, make the pieces and given funds to cover her household costs. Ana, “Influencia del vestuario en el retrato del Siglo de Oro”, The masterpiece in this portrait is the carmine cloak the king wore while Moda y Sociedad: estudios inspecting the troops: “Pellicer lo documenta como el capote de albornoz rojo sobre educación, lenguaje e que vestía Felipe IV en una visita realizada a las tropas”15 (Pellicer documents historia del vestido, Centro it as the red cloak Philip IV wore when visiting the troops). In this case, the de Formación Continua de la Universidad de Granada, news we have is of Gonzalo Callejón, the embroiderer in charge of making this Granada, 1988. gorgeous piece in exchange for payment of “trescientos y quarenta y siete reales 15 TEJEDA FERNÁNDEZ, se acabaron de pagar de 10582 reales por el albornoz carmesí que bordó para Margarita, Glosario de S. M. en anio pasado de 1644. Uno de plata pasada”16 (three-hundred and forty- términos de la indumentaria regia y cortesana en seven reals were paid of 10,582 reals for the carmine cloak embroidered for His España: siglos xvii y xviii, Majesty last year, 1644. One of silver wire). It is a military garment, in line with Universidad de Málaga: Real the time: “es una capa de agua africana llamada burnusum, nombre bárbaro de Academia de Bellas Artes de San Telmo, Málaga, 2006. los Zanetas, gente belicosa de África […] pero muy ilustre en la historia general 17 16 Archivo General del de España” (It is an African rain poncho called a burnusum, which is the Palacio Real de Madrid, barbarian name for the Zanetas, a warrior tribe in Africa […] though very Sección Administrativa, illustrious in the general history of Spain). We must imagine this garment was legajo 911. of the very highest quality, given both the amount paid to the embroiderer, 17 COVARRUBIAS, Sebastián de, Tesoro de la lengua although it is not sure whether some of these funds were to be used to purchase , Luis Sánchez, the silver wire for the embroidery, and Velázquez’s brush strokes, who after his Madrid, 1611. first trip to Italy changed his style completely and the way he expressed both highlights and shadows on the canvas, creating this silver wire with quick, concise brush strokes that show the maturity achieved by this universal figure in pictorial art. Art History has always been focused, and rightfully so, on big names like Michelangelo, Velázquez and Rubens, taking for granted that the only valid artistic manifestation throughout history are those in the so-called classic triad: painting, sculpture and architecture. Other fields, from the aesthetic view of art,

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have never been studied by historians, who have almost exclusively preferred to delve deeper into paths already well-trodden by historiography and the very passing of time. The textile arts have never been recognised as such, and much less were those who carried out these activities in the court considered artists. It is an art that is constantly evolving and also influenced by foreign trends, which enriches it with distinctive elements to create a new fashion and, in short, a new appearance for those seeking legitimacy in any way possible.

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